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Crone
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Expected 22 Sep 26Win a free print copy of this book!
23 days and 00:21:03
25 copies available
U.S. only
A haunting, fearsome story of a father searching for his missing daughter and finding darkness—both human and not—at every turn, from the author of the “exciting, suspenseful, horrifying” (Stephen King) Fever House
Eli Lamp is a broken man. An ex-detective, ex-addict, and long-grieving father whose daughter, Hannah, disappeared a decade before, Eli decimated his old life investigating her abduction and is now indebted to the Crooked Wheel, a local drug gang, as an enforcer. He lives in a rundown trailer at the edge of the woods, where he keeps Hannah’s room in pristine condition and tries to make it through one day at a time.
But when the son of the Crooked Wheel’s boss is found viciously murdered in a crime scene that doesn’t seem to add up, Eli receives a new order: Find out who the killer is and your debt to the Wheel is clear forever. You’re free. This pursuit brings him into the orbit of Avery Bryant, Hannah’s best friend and the last person to see her before she went missing. Soon, Eli and Avery are entwined in a hunt for answers that spans decades, stretches the realm of possibility, and brings churning to the surface a conspiracy linking not only these current tragedies, but the buried sorrows of Eli’s past.
And though none of them dare say the word "witch," at least not out loud, something lurks in the woods, bent-backed and black-eyed, clawed and vengeful, looming ever closer. . . .
Eli Lamp is a broken man. An ex-detective, ex-addict, and long-grieving father whose daughter, Hannah, disappeared a decade before, Eli decimated his old life investigating her abduction and is now indebted to the Crooked Wheel, a local drug gang, as an enforcer. He lives in a rundown trailer at the edge of the woods, where he keeps Hannah’s room in pristine condition and tries to make it through one day at a time.
But when the son of the Crooked Wheel’s boss is found viciously murdered in a crime scene that doesn’t seem to add up, Eli receives a new order: Find out who the killer is and your debt to the Wheel is clear forever. You’re free. This pursuit brings him into the orbit of Avery Bryant, Hannah’s best friend and the last person to see her before she went missing. Soon, Eli and Avery are entwined in a hunt for answers that spans decades, stretches the realm of possibility, and brings churning to the surface a conspiracy linking not only these current tragedies, but the buried sorrows of Eli’s past.
And though none of them dare say the word "witch," at least not out loud, something lurks in the woods, bent-backed and black-eyed, clawed and vengeful, looming ever closer. . . .
352 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication September 22, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
🖤💚🖤💚🖤💚🖤💚🖤💚🖤💚🖤
Keith Rosson captured my heart and my full attention last year with Coffin Moon. There was something so devilishly-good about that book. The setting, the grittiness of the plot, the characters; it was a whole mood. It all worked for me and has remained in my mind ever since.
To say that I was excited to get an early-copy of this novel, Crone, would be putting it so mildly it wouldn't even register. I was stoked for this and as you can tell from my rating, I wasn't disappointed for a moment.
This novel matches Coffin Moon in tone, so if you also enjoyed that one, I would highly recommend reading this as well. The big difference would be while Coffin Moon is a bit of a vampiric romp, Crone is for the witches in the crowd.
This continues the classic dark Crime Fiction feel that Coffin Moon brought, and is actually even set in the same area of the United States, just in a later time period.
This story follows Eli Lamp, an ex-detective, turned addict, turned ex-addict, whose daughter disappeared 10-years ago. Eli's battled his emotions since Hannah's been gone, but the guilt and grief frequently overwhelm him.
Due to a certain incident Eli got himself involved in while investigating Hannah's disappearance, he's also now indebted to a local drug gang, the Crooked Wheel. They utilize his skills as an enforcer. It's a dark road he's traveled.
We also follow a young woman named Avery. Avery was actually Hannah's best friend, and the two were together on the night that Hannah disappeared. Like Eli, Hannah has also really struggled since that night. The guilt and shame she's felt since Hannah disappeared has definitely defined the trajectory of her life so far.
Avery fled their small town as soon as she graduated high school, unable to stand the whispers and looks any longer. Recently though, she's been having extremely vivid dreams of Hannah calling her back.
After the boss of the Crooked Wheel's son is found brutally murdered, he asks Eli to investigate it, so they can bring the killer to justice. If Eli's successful, he won't owe them any longer. He'll be a free man.
His investigation brings him into the orbit of Avery, recently returned to town, a girl he never thought he'd see again. Soon the two are entwined in a search for answers that all link back to the night their dear Hannah disappeared.
Contrary to everything they might believe in, signs point to a mysterious something lurking the woods. A something with a bent back, black eyes and claws. No one wants to say witch, but it's a thought...
This is such a beautifully-devastating story. My heart aches with the weight of it. It's gritty and violent, showcasing the worst acts that humans can do unto each other.
There's also a rawness to it all, with humanity just bleeding off the page. Rosson does such an incredible job of examining dark emotions, such as guilt, grief and self-doubt, even hate. This is vengeance-fueled story, much like Coffin Moon, and I was completely invested.
I loved the direction Rosson ultimately went with this. I will say the way he laid it all out, it's not a path I would typically enjoy, but I think in this case, just because of the overall emotion of the story, it actually worked. He pulled it off.
If you've never read Rosson before, you've got time. Pick up Coffin Moon before this one releases in September. If you like that vibe, you should absolutely pick this one up as well.
Also, I definitely recommend this for fans of Witchy stories, particularly if you're itching for something opposite of all the Cozy Witchy vibes we seem to be getting lately.
This is full stop a Horror novel. It's violent, gory and full of complicated topics and emotions. It's absolutely stellar and I cannot wait for a hard copy to take residence on my shelves.
Thank you to the publisher, Random House, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This will definitely be making my Best Books of 2026 list!!!
Keith Rosson captured my heart and my full attention last year with Coffin Moon. There was something so devilishly-good about that book. The setting, the grittiness of the plot, the characters; it was a whole mood. It all worked for me and has remained in my mind ever since.
To say that I was excited to get an early-copy of this novel, Crone, would be putting it so mildly it wouldn't even register. I was stoked for this and as you can tell from my rating, I wasn't disappointed for a moment.
This novel matches Coffin Moon in tone, so if you also enjoyed that one, I would highly recommend reading this as well. The big difference would be while Coffin Moon is a bit of a vampiric romp, Crone is for the witches in the crowd.
This continues the classic dark Crime Fiction feel that Coffin Moon brought, and is actually even set in the same area of the United States, just in a later time period.
This story follows Eli Lamp, an ex-detective, turned addict, turned ex-addict, whose daughter disappeared 10-years ago. Eli's battled his emotions since Hannah's been gone, but the guilt and grief frequently overwhelm him.
Due to a certain incident Eli got himself involved in while investigating Hannah's disappearance, he's also now indebted to a local drug gang, the Crooked Wheel. They utilize his skills as an enforcer. It's a dark road he's traveled.
We also follow a young woman named Avery. Avery was actually Hannah's best friend, and the two were together on the night that Hannah disappeared. Like Eli, Hannah has also really struggled since that night. The guilt and shame she's felt since Hannah disappeared has definitely defined the trajectory of her life so far.
Avery fled their small town as soon as she graduated high school, unable to stand the whispers and looks any longer. Recently though, she's been having extremely vivid dreams of Hannah calling her back.
After the boss of the Crooked Wheel's son is found brutally murdered, he asks Eli to investigate it, so they can bring the killer to justice. If Eli's successful, he won't owe them any longer. He'll be a free man.
His investigation brings him into the orbit of Avery, recently returned to town, a girl he never thought he'd see again. Soon the two are entwined in a search for answers that all link back to the night their dear Hannah disappeared.
Contrary to everything they might believe in, signs point to a mysterious something lurking the woods. A something with a bent back, black eyes and claws. No one wants to say witch, but it's a thought...
This is such a beautifully-devastating story. My heart aches with the weight of it. It's gritty and violent, showcasing the worst acts that humans can do unto each other.
There's also a rawness to it all, with humanity just bleeding off the page. Rosson does such an incredible job of examining dark emotions, such as guilt, grief and self-doubt, even hate. This is vengeance-fueled story, much like Coffin Moon, and I was completely invested.
I loved the direction Rosson ultimately went with this. I will say the way he laid it all out, it's not a path I would typically enjoy, but I think in this case, just because of the overall emotion of the story, it actually worked. He pulled it off.
If you've never read Rosson before, you've got time. Pick up Coffin Moon before this one releases in September. If you like that vibe, you should absolutely pick this one up as well.
Also, I definitely recommend this for fans of Witchy stories, particularly if you're itching for something opposite of all the Cozy Witchy vibes we seem to be getting lately.
This is full stop a Horror novel. It's violent, gory and full of complicated topics and emotions. It's absolutely stellar and I cannot wait for a hard copy to take residence on my shelves.
Thank you to the publisher, Random House, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This will definitely be making my Best Books of 2026 list!!!
March 16, 2026
HOLY 😱😱😱😱! That was a killer read! I’m emotionally wrecked inside. I’m speechless, so, just let me catch my breath a minute here.
😭😭😭😭😭
Oh, and guess what? You don’t really need a synopsis when it comes to this author. Nope. You just read it! If you loved Coffin Moon, it’s pretty much a guarantee that you’ll be obsessed with Crone!
Rosson has a style to his writing that has grit and a whole lot of heart. He allows the reader to feel a connection to his characters and gets you feeling all kinds of sh**!
Imagine part Sons of Anarchy, a creature feature, grief horror, and stir that up with some diabolical witchery. I was hooked from page one! I couldn’t get my eyes to read fast enough.
Crone is addictive and brutal while pulling at your heartstrings. I didn’t want it to end and neither will you! And let me clarify this is the third horror novel I’ve ever weeped over. 😭 Get ready folks, this stunner of a novel will hold you hostage.
5 GLORIOUS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Out 9/26
Thank you to Random House, NetGalley, and Keith Rosson for the gifted copy.
😭😭😭😭😭
Oh, and guess what? You don’t really need a synopsis when it comes to this author. Nope. You just read it! If you loved Coffin Moon, it’s pretty much a guarantee that you’ll be obsessed with Crone!
Rosson has a style to his writing that has grit and a whole lot of heart. He allows the reader to feel a connection to his characters and gets you feeling all kinds of sh**!
Imagine part Sons of Anarchy, a creature feature, grief horror, and stir that up with some diabolical witchery. I was hooked from page one! I couldn’t get my eyes to read fast enough.
Crone is addictive and brutal while pulling at your heartstrings. I didn’t want it to end and neither will you! And let me clarify this is the third horror novel I’ve ever weeped over. 😭 Get ready folks, this stunner of a novel will hold you hostage.
5 GLORIOUS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Out 9/26
Thank you to Random House, NetGalley, and Keith Rosson for the gifted copy.
March 16, 2026
5⭐️ I loved Keith Rosson’s last book Coffin Moon and was so excited to receive an arc of Crone! It is Amazing! Horror at its best!!! I was hooked right away and could not put it down! It’s fast paced, emotional, tragic, tense, creepy and gorey.
The story starts with the disappearance of 15 year old Hannah. Her drug addicted dad Eli a former cop, gets clean and dedicates himself to looking for her. After an incident with a motorcycle gang he becomes indebted to Dave Novak their leader.
Some creepy things begin to happen starting with the brutal murder of Dave’s son Anton.
Who is the supernatural force behind the murder? How far will Eli go after years pass to find Hannah? This story is dark and has some really bloody scenes, but it is a story of love and redemption and about as perfect of a horror story as I’ve read!
Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishers, and Keith Rosson for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
The story starts with the disappearance of 15 year old Hannah. Her drug addicted dad Eli a former cop, gets clean and dedicates himself to looking for her. After an incident with a motorcycle gang he becomes indebted to Dave Novak their leader.
Some creepy things begin to happen starting with the brutal murder of Dave’s son Anton.
Who is the supernatural force behind the murder? How far will Eli go after years pass to find Hannah? This story is dark and has some really bloody scenes, but it is a story of love and redemption and about as perfect of a horror story as I’ve read!
Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishers, and Keith Rosson for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
May 29, 2026
Grit, dirt, terror.
The Blair Witch Project meets Sons of Anarchy meets Snatch.
A small town, desolate highway, dingy motel rooms, despair. A missing girl and a father’s mistakes.
This is an authentic and real horror. Storytelling at its upmost. Bikers, drugs, crime. Layer upon poetic layer of deplorable and sketchy shit. The horror was vivid, visceral and terrifying. This was a wild ride. I loved the Coffin Moon references; the clever weaving of stories. It turned into something complex, human and broken.
Quite possibly one of my favourites ever.
‘That they might use a heart or a liver of an animal besmirched in thorns to call upon an enemy to suffer.’
‘“Old sails, old bodies, old souls. Grasp the mast and fill the hole”. He laughed his child’s laugh…’
‘Whatever’s making that noise, I don’t want to see it.’
‘He stood there, felt the weight of all his wasted years howling around him.’
‘rain, the canopy of night above her, all these trees…’
5 STARS
(Thanks to Netgalley for the arc)
The Blair Witch Project meets Sons of Anarchy meets Snatch.
A small town, desolate highway, dingy motel rooms, despair. A missing girl and a father’s mistakes.
This is an authentic and real horror. Storytelling at its upmost. Bikers, drugs, crime. Layer upon poetic layer of deplorable and sketchy shit. The horror was vivid, visceral and terrifying. This was a wild ride. I loved the Coffin Moon references; the clever weaving of stories. It turned into something complex, human and broken.
Quite possibly one of my favourites ever.
‘That they might use a heart or a liver of an animal besmirched in thorns to call upon an enemy to suffer.’
‘“Old sails, old bodies, old souls. Grasp the mast and fill the hole”. He laughed his child’s laugh…’
‘Whatever’s making that noise, I don’t want to see it.’
‘He stood there, felt the weight of all his wasted years howling around him.’
‘rain, the canopy of night above her, all these trees…’
5 STARS
(Thanks to Netgalley for the arc)
April 23, 2026
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my Advanced Reader’s Copy. This was one of my most anticipated reads this year and it did not disappoint. Brutal, gritty, terrifying, heartbreaking. It grabs you and won’t let you go. A must read in modern horror (and an instant read author for me). Don’t sleep on this one, coming 9/22/26.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
3.5 stars
✨✨✨Gritty crime + Horror✨✨✨
This is my second book by Keith Rosson and to be honest, I had a difficult time getting into this one. I was intrigued by the plot but at the same time some of it just felt a bit weighed down.
There was a lot going on with drug addiction and poverty which I found was written very well and engaging. However, it did seem like some of the plot really did drag. Don’t get me wrong, the writing is very well done and sets the atmosphere wonderfully. The portrayal of addiction seemed especially well done. It was all just a bit slow paced for me.
The meat of the story reads as gritty crime detective and closer towards the end of the book was when we really got to the Crone stuff. Which I loved, but just seemed very drawn out to get to that point. Also, I was expecting more witch horror than crime. The last like 1/3 was spectacular and that ending I LOVED!!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is expected to be released September 22, 2026.
✨✨✨Gritty crime + Horror✨✨✨
This is my second book by Keith Rosson and to be honest, I had a difficult time getting into this one. I was intrigued by the plot but at the same time some of it just felt a bit weighed down.
There was a lot going on with drug addiction and poverty which I found was written very well and engaging. However, it did seem like some of the plot really did drag. Don’t get me wrong, the writing is very well done and sets the atmosphere wonderfully. The portrayal of addiction seemed especially well done. It was all just a bit slow paced for me.
The meat of the story reads as gritty crime detective and closer towards the end of the book was when we really got to the Crone stuff. Which I loved, but just seemed very drawn out to get to that point. Also, I was expecting more witch horror than crime. The last like 1/3 was spectacular and that ending I LOVED!!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is expected to be released September 22, 2026.
April 14, 2026
A perfectly unsettling and disturbing read interweaving normal day to day life with the supernatural and it just working. More than working, it flowed and kept me hooked from start to finish. I wanted better for most of the characters and by reading this I feel like it gave them a voice when theirs had been stolen. Enchanting and disturbing in equal measure.
April 15, 2026
This is for the girls who have ✨daddy issues✨
Picture it.. missing teen, devastated dad, biker gangs, small town worthless cops, witchcraft, and a sprinkle of little details from the Rosson multiverse.
That’s it. That’s the review. Oh, and I cried.
Picture it.. missing teen, devastated dad, biker gangs, small town worthless cops, witchcraft, and a sprinkle of little details from the Rosson multiverse.
That’s it. That’s the review. Oh, and I cried.
April 22, 2026
Crone by Keith Rosson
Ok, here is another brillant novel by Keith Rosson. Crone is gritty crime novel in a rundown town full of criminals, corrupt cops and drug addicts. If this was all the story was about, it would still be a 5 star read. But with a title like Crone, you know the story is interlaced with supernatural horror. Eli Lamp is an ex-detective who is forced to work for the local motorcycle club as an enforcer and drug runner. A moment in his past has him indebted to the boss. But he is offered the chance to wipe the slate clean if uses his old detective skills to find out who murdered the gang leaders son. Eli, like most of the characters in this book, is a fuck up. He lost his wife not long after the birth of his only child. This led him down the path of drug addiction and losing his job with local police. Then years later his daughter Hannah goes missing and to this day no one knows what happened to her. Eli just trudges through life in despair and alcoholism, barely holding on. There are not a lot of redeeming qualities to Eli Lamp. But Rosson’s amazing character work is on display yet again. You can’t help but root for and sympathise with Eli (and some of the other characters). You are in their heads, feeling what they are feeling. It’s the best part of the book. I won’t go into spoilers about the horror aspects of this book. There are no cackling old ladies with pointy hats and warts on their noses. When Rosson writes horror themes (witches with Crone, vampires with Coffin Moon) you know you are getting unique interpretations from his twisted imagination. Rosson expertly weaves multiple POV’s and two different timelines so well together it reminded me of the narrative structure of the movie Weapons. If you can’t tell, I loved Crone. The characters and emotion. The unique twists. The brutal and gory horror. Crone is due to release on 22nd September. Preorder your copy now. Thanks to Black Crow Books and NetGalley for allowing me to review an ARC copy.
Ok, here is another brillant novel by Keith Rosson. Crone is gritty crime novel in a rundown town full of criminals, corrupt cops and drug addicts. If this was all the story was about, it would still be a 5 star read. But with a title like Crone, you know the story is interlaced with supernatural horror. Eli Lamp is an ex-detective who is forced to work for the local motorcycle club as an enforcer and drug runner. A moment in his past has him indebted to the boss. But he is offered the chance to wipe the slate clean if uses his old detective skills to find out who murdered the gang leaders son. Eli, like most of the characters in this book, is a fuck up. He lost his wife not long after the birth of his only child. This led him down the path of drug addiction and losing his job with local police. Then years later his daughter Hannah goes missing and to this day no one knows what happened to her. Eli just trudges through life in despair and alcoholism, barely holding on. There are not a lot of redeeming qualities to Eli Lamp. But Rosson’s amazing character work is on display yet again. You can’t help but root for and sympathise with Eli (and some of the other characters). You are in their heads, feeling what they are feeling. It’s the best part of the book. I won’t go into spoilers about the horror aspects of this book. There are no cackling old ladies with pointy hats and warts on their noses. When Rosson writes horror themes (witches with Crone, vampires with Coffin Moon) you know you are getting unique interpretations from his twisted imagination. Rosson expertly weaves multiple POV’s and two different timelines so well together it reminded me of the narrative structure of the movie Weapons. If you can’t tell, I loved Crone. The characters and emotion. The unique twists. The brutal and gory horror. Crone is due to release on 22nd September. Preorder your copy now. Thanks to Black Crow Books and NetGalley for allowing me to review an ARC copy.
Want to Read
March 7, 2026author of one of my favorite books last year: Coffin Moon!
super excited for this one! Pub date: 9/2026
super excited for this one! Pub date: 9/2026
May 21, 2026
The Crone by Keith Rosson honestly was mind-boggling. I received an ARC Kindle copy through NetGalley.
I loved the urban grit of the biker gangs, drugs, and crime mixed with the mystery-thriller atmosphere and horror elements that kept the suspense building with every page turn. The story felt raw, intense, and emotionally charged from start to finish.
I’d rate this book a solid 4.2 stars because, personally, I wanted a little more horror throughout the storyline. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the dark urban atmosphere and the eerie buildup surrounding the Crone. The tension steadily rises until about three-quarters into the book, when the horror elements really begin to hit hard.
Keith Rosson’s writing kept my mind racing the entire time. I found myself constantly trying to piece together the mystery and figure out where the story was heading. Isabelle “Crone” was especially fascinating, and I honestly wish we could get even more background or another book centered around her story.
And when the brutality finally kicks in toward the end, it absolutely delivers. Just when I thought I had the plot figured out and my suspects lined up, the entire dynamic shifted in a way that completely caught me off guard, and made the ending even stronger.
If you enjoy gritty urban thrillers with horror undertones, mystery, suspense, and emotionally raw storytelling, I highly recommend this read.
I loved the urban grit of the biker gangs, drugs, and crime mixed with the mystery-thriller atmosphere and horror elements that kept the suspense building with every page turn. The story felt raw, intense, and emotionally charged from start to finish.
I’d rate this book a solid 4.2 stars because, personally, I wanted a little more horror throughout the storyline. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the dark urban atmosphere and the eerie buildup surrounding the Crone. The tension steadily rises until about three-quarters into the book, when the horror elements really begin to hit hard.
Keith Rosson’s writing kept my mind racing the entire time. I found myself constantly trying to piece together the mystery and figure out where the story was heading. Isabelle “Crone” was especially fascinating, and I honestly wish we could get even more background or another book centered around her story.
And when the brutality finally kicks in toward the end, it absolutely delivers. Just when I thought I had the plot figured out and my suspects lined up, the entire dynamic shifted in a way that completely caught me off guard, and made the ending even stronger.
If you enjoy gritty urban thrillers with horror undertones, mystery, suspense, and emotionally raw storytelling, I highly recommend this read.
April 16, 2026
Eli Lamp is an ex-cop and ex-junkie who is mourning the disappearance of his daughter, Hannah, thirteen years prior. Nowadays, Eli serves Dave Novak, head of the local biker gang/drug syndicate, by doing the man’s dirty work. When one of Novak’s sons is brutally killed and the details don’t make sense, Eli and Hannah’s childhood friend Avery start down a path of brutality that could ultimately lead them to what happened to Hannah all those years ago.
Coffin Moon was one of my top 5 favorite reads last year, so I was over the moon to be approved to read Crone early! Witches and crime? Count me tf in. Here are some thoughts I had while reading Crone:
-The setting and gore in this novel are written so well. Gnarly, but not just for the sake of it. The dreary PNW also works so atmospherically - really ups the creepy factor.
-Storylines surrounding drugs - even as secondary plot - just don’t grab or hold my attention, and they never have in any media. I was really hoping that as the story moved on we’d get less and less Dave Novak, but unfortunately he and his henchmen are always at the forefront.
-Avoiding spoilers, I was desperate for more witchy content. We’re teased throughout and it’s definitely there, but always seems to either play second fiddle or is abruptly put to rest/moved on from.
-I needed more Hannah throughout the book, whether in flashback or otherwise. I wanted to see more of how she interacted with Eli and Avery. I feel like the ending would pack an even bigger punch if we had that background.
Overall, in my opinion, too much time was spent on characters and storylines that I didn’t care about and too few pages were used to explore what I was really here to read about. This made the pacing feel off, and I went from feverishly reading to just having to get through certain sections.
As always from Rosson, this book is full of extremely well-written prose. However, I was expecting a different book than what Crone turned out to be, and it wasn’t always to my great interest. Overall, I give it a 3.5/5.
Coffin Moon was one of my top 5 favorite reads last year, so I was over the moon to be approved to read Crone early! Witches and crime? Count me tf in. Here are some thoughts I had while reading Crone:
-The setting and gore in this novel are written so well. Gnarly, but not just for the sake of it. The dreary PNW also works so atmospherically - really ups the creepy factor.
-Storylines surrounding drugs - even as secondary plot - just don’t grab or hold my attention, and they never have in any media. I was really hoping that as the story moved on we’d get less and less Dave Novak, but unfortunately he and his henchmen are always at the forefront.
-Avoiding spoilers, I was desperate for more witchy content. We’re teased throughout and it’s definitely there, but always seems to either play second fiddle or is abruptly put to rest/moved on from.
-I needed more Hannah throughout the book, whether in flashback or otherwise. I wanted to see more of how she interacted with Eli and Avery. I feel like the ending would pack an even bigger punch if we had that background.
Overall, in my opinion, too much time was spent on characters and storylines that I didn’t care about and too few pages were used to explore what I was really here to read about. This made the pacing feel off, and I went from feverishly reading to just having to get through certain sections.
As always from Rosson, this book is full of extremely well-written prose. However, I was expecting a different book than what Crone turned out to be, and it wasn’t always to my great interest. Overall, I give it a 3.5/5.
April 18, 2026
When it comes to reading, there’s not much better than a book you can’t put down. Flying through the pages, eager to experience what’s next, but also not ready for it to end. That’s been my experience with each book I’ve read from Keith Rosson, and I need to devour every word he’s written.
I’m rusty with reviews and was surprisingly blessed with a review copy of CRONE, courtesy of Netgalley and Random House. Just when I thought I couldn’t love Rosson’s writing more than I did with Coffin Moon, I was proven wrong with Crone.
Rosson’s characters come alive and it’s impossible not to become entrenched in their world. He writes some of the best stories featuring flawed, human characters. Crone has excellent pacing, plot, and atmosphere. I’ve never been to the pacific northwest but I was transported to the environment in this novel.
Rosson is a front runner among authors writing heartfelt horror, and just like in Coffin Moon, with Crone, he shines a light on the horror of humanity with the perfect balance of the supernatural.
I laughed, cried, and felt the tension as I followed this story. I’d file this under “grief horror with grit” and cannot wait to see what this author does next. In the meantime I’ll be snagging copies of his previous work to tide me over.
I’m rusty with reviews and was surprisingly blessed with a review copy of CRONE, courtesy of Netgalley and Random House. Just when I thought I couldn’t love Rosson’s writing more than I did with Coffin Moon, I was proven wrong with Crone.
Rosson’s characters come alive and it’s impossible not to become entrenched in their world. He writes some of the best stories featuring flawed, human characters. Crone has excellent pacing, plot, and atmosphere. I’ve never been to the pacific northwest but I was transported to the environment in this novel.
Rosson is a front runner among authors writing heartfelt horror, and just like in Coffin Moon, with Crone, he shines a light on the horror of humanity with the perfect balance of the supernatural.
I laughed, cried, and felt the tension as I followed this story. I’d file this under “grief horror with grit” and cannot wait to see what this author does next. In the meantime I’ll be snagging copies of his previous work to tide me over.
March 26, 2026
Crone is a fast moving, constantly evolving story. I really loved how the crone was introduced into the story and her characteristics!
There are so many twists that really add to the story.
There are a lot of characters to follow, but the author made it easy to not get confused.
This is a great read for 2026!
There are so many twists that really add to the story.
There are a lot of characters to follow, but the author made it easy to not get confused.
This is a great read for 2026!
June 23, 2026
4.5 ⭐️ I do love a revenge motive in my mystery books
April 11, 2026
Keith Rosson is a master storyteller who intertwines grit with heart to create incredible characters in unputdownable stories. Crone, like Coffin Moon and the Fever House duology follows in this vein. I found the characters and the dark and gritty story mesmerizing. Crone feels like Sons of Anarchy blended with a witch story and it works beautifully. As a fellow Portlander, I am always thrilled to see a local author thrive and Keith Rosson deserves every accolade for his body of work. He is a must read author for me and I highly recommend Crone
Thanks to Random House and NetGalley following providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks to Random House and NetGalley following providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
March 31, 2026
Keith Rosson’s unflinching ability to create brutal and bleak worlds that move at 100mph is something that should see him rise to the top of the horror writing genre.
Crone is the fourth book I’ve read of his, after the Fever House duology and Coffin Moon, and I think Crone is my favourite.
As a father, it drives into the fears of not being able to protect your child. The horror of not knowing what happened after the disappearance of the main character’s daughter, and the brutal nature of how his life turned paints a grim but fascinating tale.
I had previously described reading a Keith Rosson book as like being punched in the face for a few hundred pages, I’d now add the twist of a knife in the gut to that analogy in the best possible way.
Crone is the fourth book I’ve read of his, after the Fever House duology and Coffin Moon, and I think Crone is my favourite.
As a father, it drives into the fears of not being able to protect your child. The horror of not knowing what happened after the disappearance of the main character’s daughter, and the brutal nature of how his life turned paints a grim but fascinating tale.
I had previously described reading a Keith Rosson book as like being punched in the face for a few hundred pages, I’d now add the twist of a knife in the gut to that analogy in the best possible way.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
As a fellow Portlander, it was with no small amount of hometown pride that I was extolling the virtues of Coffin Moon to all of my horror-reading friends. It was my first book of Rosson's, and I loved it. So I was super excited to have been offered an ARC of Crone on NetGalley, which I swallowed up with equal eagerness. While I didn't love it quite as much as Coffin Moon, I think Rosson has done an excellent job here and this book has a lot to offer horror fans - it just wasn't quite what I was expecting.
Having read Coffin Moon, and considering a title like Crone, I anticipated a significant element of the supernatural. While it was definitely present, the main focus of the story is on human horror - how awful people can be to one another, how terrible grief is, and how shattering loneliness can lead us to do drastic, desperate things. Coffin Moon's Varney wasn't terrible just because he was a vampire, after all - he was terrible in a wholly human way and the vampirism only amplified it. In Crone, it's the people who are terrible, and it's a rather bleak treatise on the human experience.
A lot of similarities with Coffin Moon (and I will try not to compare the two so much) leave me wondering whether that's just a Rosson trademark - a bereaved man, a desperate young woman, a lot of meditation on family, love, and loss. A bloody thread of vengeance throughout. Only Crone turns up the dial on violence, brutality, and our heroes thinking they have nothing left to lose. They may not be entirely right.
Back to the supernatural aspect. It starts off small, but present, and is weaved into the story thinly at first. The focus is, again, on humanity, and that driving force is drugs, despair, and desolation. Eli Lamp is a former detective who lost everything, and now finds himself indebted to and working as an enforcer for a drug kingpin in their misty, damp Oregon Coast town. The police are on the take. The motorcycle club runs the show, and they run it violently and bloodily. The gore factor is high, and awful things happen to just about everyone.
Which brings me to my main issue with this book - the violence against women.
The pacing throughout the novel felt off for me. The middle dragged a bit, focusing too much on drugs, gangs, and violence and omitting the creepy supernatural bent that I came here for. When the titular crone did arrive, it was in an exposition of exposition that would have been better served spread throughout the story. Including more of the supernatural aspect earlier on and balancing it better with the real-world would've felt more effective. Generally, this feels like a bit of a sophomore effort when it isn't, and I'd like to see Rosson return to his supernatural horror roots.
At the same time, the conclusion of the story had that heart-wrenching Rosson touch that made me tear up. He's masterful at weaving together terror and heartbreak in a way that sticks with you long after you've turned the final page.
Having read Coffin Moon, and considering a title like Crone, I anticipated a significant element of the supernatural. While it was definitely present, the main focus of the story is on human horror - how awful people can be to one another, how terrible grief is, and how shattering loneliness can lead us to do drastic, desperate things. Coffin Moon's Varney wasn't terrible just because he was a vampire, after all - he was terrible in a wholly human way and the vampirism only amplified it. In Crone, it's the people who are terrible, and it's a rather bleak treatise on the human experience.
A lot of similarities with Coffin Moon (and I will try not to compare the two so much) leave me wondering whether that's just a Rosson trademark - a bereaved man, a desperate young woman, a lot of meditation on family, love, and loss. A bloody thread of vengeance throughout. Only Crone turns up the dial on violence, brutality, and our heroes thinking they have nothing left to lose. They may not be entirely right.
Back to the supernatural aspect. It starts off small, but present, and is weaved into the story thinly at first. The focus is, again, on humanity, and that driving force is drugs, despair, and desolation. Eli Lamp is a former detective who lost everything, and now finds himself indebted to and working as an enforcer for a drug kingpin in their misty, damp Oregon Coast town. The police are on the take. The motorcycle club runs the show, and they run it violently and bloodily. The gore factor is high, and awful things happen to just about everyone.
Which brings me to my main issue with this book - the violence against women.
The pacing throughout the novel felt off for me. The middle dragged a bit, focusing too much on drugs, gangs, and violence and omitting the creepy supernatural bent that I came here for. When the titular crone did arrive, it was in an exposition of exposition that would have been better served spread throughout the story. Including more of the supernatural aspect earlier on and balancing it better with the real-world would've felt more effective. Generally, this feels like a bit of a sophomore effort when it isn't, and I'd like to see Rosson return to his supernatural horror roots.
At the same time, the conclusion of the story had that heart-wrenching Rosson touch that made me tear up. He's masterful at weaving together terror and heartbreak in a way that sticks with you long after you've turned the final page.
May 14, 2026
Crone introduces us to Eli Lamp, a former cop and drug addict who is now a lackey for a local biker gang. Thirteen years before, Eli’s daughter climbed into a van and was never seen again, and this event has shaped Eli’s life ever since. He wants answers, but more than that, he wants revenge. So far, neither has been forthcoming. When Abby Bryant, his daughter’s best friend, rolls back into town, a series of events leads to an endless dominoing of bad turns, finding Eli on the hunt for his final revenge and Abby deep in a strange world of elemental magic. Oh, and more revenge.
I look forward to a new Keith Rosson novel like it’s my birthday, and there’s a lot to celebrate about Crone.
Rosson continues to build out his extended universe as a nightmare Pacific Northwest of biker gangs and people forever on the edge. This paranormal noir universe feels like a known place now, and it’s clearly a fruitful sandbox within which Rosson can play out these dark dramas.
Not content with playing around with traditional horror tropes (zombies, vampires, witches), Rosson is also getting more playful with his world-building, inventing the fictional drug, “wire,” and turning it loose within his story. On the one hand, wire could be any drug, but the descriptions of users pushing hanks of crystal-razored wire under their finger and toenails is both stomach-churning and almost Cronenbergian in its horror.
The horror-noir of Crone delivers on both genre’s expectations. The characters here are pitch black, with just the smallest glimmer of light buried down under decades worth of guilt and resentments. And they’re are all trapped within a world of crime and violence too deep to ever hope to really get out. Oh, and there’s also a horrifying crone-thing that will rip people in half with its bare hands. Crone contains scenes of violence that are downright lyrical, all with enough blood to fill seven books.
But it’s Rossen’s character work that continues to carry the day. He manages to make Eli Lamp—an absolute piece of wet dogshit—into a character who is not only compelling but sympathetic. Eli doesn’t really grow or change over the course of the novel. What growth he might have experienced happened earlier, before the story’s opening, but we watch him suffer like some kind of martyred saint, and like the story of some martyred saint, there’s something moving about the shape of his pain.
Abby Bryant is a little less well-drawn, and maybe that’s because her traumas are a little less obvious. But she also points to a larger question about the novel as a whole. For a book that is essentially a gritty, blood-soaked “Good for her,” extravaganza in which a vengeful witch tears through a couple of biker gangs and one sheriff’s station worth of bad dudes, it feels weird to have Eli as our main entry into the book. Which is just another way of saying that Crone walks a thin line between holding up a mirror to a particular type of violent masculinity and reveling in it.
It needn’t be that way. Abby’s point of view gives the reader a much clearer view of this warped world of chest-pounding “alpha” sociopaths. For her it is utter terror, and it follows her—literally—everywhere she goes.
Rosson’s take on the vampire in his excellent Coffin Moon is mostly familiar, but with a kind of quiet feral quality that feels new and exciting. These monsters might be viking warriors or they might be a house full of pale children. Either way, they all seem to exist both right in the center of everyday life and just outside of view.
The crone, however, is more singular. She is a monster. She may be a kind of mother-monster, but we see very little of the human in the witch. And maybe there’s something to that. Maybe the soul-squandering nature of revenge is what the book is really all about, and maybe Eli Lamp and the Crone are just two different versions of the same song, but I truly wish that there was something more to this potentially rich figure.
Those concerns aside, if you love Rosson’s earlier work, there’s plenty more to love in Crone. Because Keith Rossen knows how to show you a good time while having a very, very bad time.
I look forward to a new Keith Rosson novel like it’s my birthday, and there’s a lot to celebrate about Crone.
Rosson continues to build out his extended universe as a nightmare Pacific Northwest of biker gangs and people forever on the edge. This paranormal noir universe feels like a known place now, and it’s clearly a fruitful sandbox within which Rosson can play out these dark dramas.
Not content with playing around with traditional horror tropes (zombies, vampires, witches), Rosson is also getting more playful with his world-building, inventing the fictional drug, “wire,” and turning it loose within his story. On the one hand, wire could be any drug, but the descriptions of users pushing hanks of crystal-razored wire under their finger and toenails is both stomach-churning and almost Cronenbergian in its horror.
The horror-noir of Crone delivers on both genre’s expectations. The characters here are pitch black, with just the smallest glimmer of light buried down under decades worth of guilt and resentments. And they’re are all trapped within a world of crime and violence too deep to ever hope to really get out. Oh, and there’s also a horrifying crone-thing that will rip people in half with its bare hands. Crone contains scenes of violence that are downright lyrical, all with enough blood to fill seven books.
But it’s Rossen’s character work that continues to carry the day. He manages to make Eli Lamp—an absolute piece of wet dogshit—into a character who is not only compelling but sympathetic. Eli doesn’t really grow or change over the course of the novel. What growth he might have experienced happened earlier, before the story’s opening, but we watch him suffer like some kind of martyred saint, and like the story of some martyred saint, there’s something moving about the shape of his pain.
Abby Bryant is a little less well-drawn, and maybe that’s because her traumas are a little less obvious. But she also points to a larger question about the novel as a whole. For a book that is essentially a gritty, blood-soaked “Good for her,” extravaganza in which a vengeful witch tears through a couple of biker gangs and one sheriff’s station worth of bad dudes, it feels weird to have Eli as our main entry into the book. Which is just another way of saying that Crone walks a thin line between holding up a mirror to a particular type of violent masculinity and reveling in it.
It needn’t be that way. Abby’s point of view gives the reader a much clearer view of this warped world of chest-pounding “alpha” sociopaths. For her it is utter terror, and it follows her—literally—everywhere she goes.
Rosson’s take on the vampire in his excellent Coffin Moon is mostly familiar, but with a kind of quiet feral quality that feels new and exciting. These monsters might be viking warriors or they might be a house full of pale children. Either way, they all seem to exist both right in the center of everyday life and just outside of view.
The crone, however, is more singular. She is a monster. She may be a kind of mother-monster, but we see very little of the human in the witch. And maybe there’s something to that. Maybe the soul-squandering nature of revenge is what the book is really all about, and maybe Eli Lamp and the Crone are just two different versions of the same song, but I truly wish that there was something more to this potentially rich figure.
Those concerns aside, if you love Rosson’s earlier work, there’s plenty more to love in Crone. Because Keith Rossen knows how to show you a good time while having a very, very bad time.
June 28, 2026
✨✨ARC Review✨✨
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5 star
What. A. Ride. What an entry point into Rosson’s work! 🤯
This was a slow, despairing descent into the dark and gritty world of Salt Point, a town plagued by secrets and monsters (both physically and figuratively).
10 years after the abduction of his daughter and Eli has lost everything, his daughter, his promising career as a detective, his sanity to addiction, and now indebted to a local drug gang, the Crooked Wheel. The situation couldn’t get more dire. That is, until the son of the cartel boss is viciously murdered, and Eli’s life is once more turned ferociously upside down.
This story sees the crashing of multiple lives as they each circle the slowly unfolding conspiracy, and together they tragically collapse into gore-soaked horrors and tragic heart-rendering heartbreaks, as decades worth of buried secrets finally surface.
If ‘Sons of Anarchy’ and ‘Pet Semetary’ had a book baby, this would be it! This is a creature-feature like no other. From the decrepit town, to the gritty rival gangs, to the police on payroll, this has all the makings of an edgy crime thriller. But Rosson adds an even deeper layer of impending doom through the inclusion of, not just monstrous people, but actual ‘monsters’. For all intents and purposes, the ‘Crone’ creatures are truly ‘monstrous’. Pale, slender, clawed, winged and oftentimes bathed in blood, the creatures seemingly appear and disappear in the blink of an eye, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. But as to how this creature exists, or why it vengefully tears open its victims, only deepens the ever building mystery.
Rosson does something incredible with his writing here in that he conjures these truly bleak landscapes, filled with incredibly flawed characters, and somehow you are utterly entranced by it. I cared so much about these characters, even when I sat there with my nose wrinkled in disdain over their behaviours or choices, I was still emotionally invested in them. Because of this, Rosson successfully delivers plot twists like a boxer repeatedly punching you in the gut. Somehow, beneath the grit, gore and general despair, this book has incredible emotional heart.
‘Crone’ at its core is a study in trauma and the differing, cruel ways it breaks the human spirit. The whole town is seemingly choked by it, haunted by the ghosts of those who have suffered. Rosson doesn’t use addiction lightly in this book, it’s not an edgy addition for grit, it’s an understanding that it is an easy pitfall when in response to trauma. Our characters are harrowed, barely holding their lives together in the fallout. There is nothing glamorous about the drug use in this book, it’s dark, seedy, destructive. Our characters are only using it because they fear they have no other lifeline, their desperation palpable on every page. The constant fear of further trauma is its own kind of horror.
Speaking of trauma, I am in no way surprised that the ‘crone’ creatures in this novel are female. Upon discovering their grave backstories, it is entirely understandable that their behaviours are motivated in response to trauma, their desperate drive for vengeance a direct response to the cruelty of man. As victims of societal misogyny, they find solace in each other’s company, effectively trauma-bonded away from reality. For who is more shunned by the masses and swiftly branded a ‘liar’ than those who have suffered SA? Is their bloodlust really so ‘evil’ in light of the injustice? For monsters are not born, they are made. This concept struck an intense chord with me personally due to my own history. There have definitely been points in my own healing journey where I would have happily torn out the throats of my own abusers, exactly how Rosson has portrayed creatures. Rosson has been incredibly respectful and compassionate towards people’s experiences with trauma throughout, lending perfectly to the emotional heights and devastation of the novel.
Nestled amongst the breakneck pacing and sheer grit of the novel is a rawness that practically bleeds from the page, so much so I couldn’t put it down. I think Rosson has found himself a lifetime reader in me! Thank you so much Black Crow Books for the opportunity to read this piece of art as an arc 🫶🏻
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5 star
What. A. Ride. What an entry point into Rosson’s work! 🤯
This was a slow, despairing descent into the dark and gritty world of Salt Point, a town plagued by secrets and monsters (both physically and figuratively).
10 years after the abduction of his daughter and Eli has lost everything, his daughter, his promising career as a detective, his sanity to addiction, and now indebted to a local drug gang, the Crooked Wheel. The situation couldn’t get more dire. That is, until the son of the cartel boss is viciously murdered, and Eli’s life is once more turned ferociously upside down.
This story sees the crashing of multiple lives as they each circle the slowly unfolding conspiracy, and together they tragically collapse into gore-soaked horrors and tragic heart-rendering heartbreaks, as decades worth of buried secrets finally surface.
If ‘Sons of Anarchy’ and ‘Pet Semetary’ had a book baby, this would be it! This is a creature-feature like no other. From the decrepit town, to the gritty rival gangs, to the police on payroll, this has all the makings of an edgy crime thriller. But Rosson adds an even deeper layer of impending doom through the inclusion of, not just monstrous people, but actual ‘monsters’. For all intents and purposes, the ‘Crone’ creatures are truly ‘monstrous’. Pale, slender, clawed, winged and oftentimes bathed in blood, the creatures seemingly appear and disappear in the blink of an eye, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. But as to how this creature exists, or why it vengefully tears open its victims, only deepens the ever building mystery.
Rosson does something incredible with his writing here in that he conjures these truly bleak landscapes, filled with incredibly flawed characters, and somehow you are utterly entranced by it. I cared so much about these characters, even when I sat there with my nose wrinkled in disdain over their behaviours or choices, I was still emotionally invested in them. Because of this, Rosson successfully delivers plot twists like a boxer repeatedly punching you in the gut. Somehow, beneath the grit, gore and general despair, this book has incredible emotional heart.
‘Crone’ at its core is a study in trauma and the differing, cruel ways it breaks the human spirit. The whole town is seemingly choked by it, haunted by the ghosts of those who have suffered. Rosson doesn’t use addiction lightly in this book, it’s not an edgy addition for grit, it’s an understanding that it is an easy pitfall when in response to trauma. Our characters are harrowed, barely holding their lives together in the fallout. There is nothing glamorous about the drug use in this book, it’s dark, seedy, destructive. Our characters are only using it because they fear they have no other lifeline, their desperation palpable on every page. The constant fear of further trauma is its own kind of horror.
Speaking of trauma, I am in no way surprised that the ‘crone’ creatures in this novel are female. Upon discovering their grave backstories, it is entirely understandable that their behaviours are motivated in response to trauma, their desperate drive for vengeance a direct response to the cruelty of man. As victims of societal misogyny, they find solace in each other’s company, effectively trauma-bonded away from reality. For who is more shunned by the masses and swiftly branded a ‘liar’ than those who have suffered SA? Is their bloodlust really so ‘evil’ in light of the injustice? For monsters are not born, they are made. This concept struck an intense chord with me personally due to my own history. There have definitely been points in my own healing journey where I would have happily torn out the throats of my own abusers, exactly how Rosson has portrayed creatures. Rosson has been incredibly respectful and compassionate towards people’s experiences with trauma throughout, lending perfectly to the emotional heights and devastation of the novel.
Nestled amongst the breakneck pacing and sheer grit of the novel is a rawness that practically bleeds from the page, so much so I couldn’t put it down. I think Rosson has found himself a lifetime reader in me! Thank you so much Black Crow Books for the opportunity to read this piece of art as an arc 🫶🏻
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
There was a lot of buzz around Keith Rosson's Fever House & The Devil By Name duology a few years back, which only seemed to explode further with last year's Coffin Moon – a gritty, dark novel that was lavished with praise by Stephen King and Joe Hill, amongst others. A punk rock kid at heart – which I very much relate to – Rosson's style is as propulsive, intense and hurricane-fast as the bands he references in his novels (Bad Religion & Subhumans this time out), and nowhere is that more the case than with his new book, Crone.
The main characters here are Eli Lamp, an ex-cop broken and bowed by the kidnapping and disappearance of his daughter Hannah thirteen years previously, and Avery Bryant, Hannah's best friend and the last known person to see her alive. Avery has turned to drugs to try and process that night, while Eli has kicked the habit only to find himself indebted to a local drug gang leader. The lack of closure and sense of emptiness hangs heavily over both of their lives. When the head of the Crooked Wheel's son is found brutally murdered, Eli receives a new order – find the killer, and he's free of the hold the gang have over him. The hunt threatens to bring converging paths of the town's residents together, perhaps violently, while an unseen threat looms in the woods nearby, with nobody knowing who – or what – it is.
Crone has a similar vibe to Coffin Moon, with gangs, intertwining personal relationships, and small-town brutality that wouldn't feel out of place in an S.A. Cosby story. Where that added vampires to the mix, and the Fever House books had his take on zombies, for this book Rosson has given us his take on witches. Don't think of cosy horror or Hocus Pocus, though. The creature here is something more primal, much darker, but with layers that may catch readers by surprise.
This is a heavy emotional read at times; I found myself getting invested in characters – many of whom won't make it to the final chapters – and the bleakness of Hannah's disappearance and its all-encompassing influence on Eli often became upsetting to read. I wasn't completely surprised to see it was influenced by real events in Rosson's life, and I hope he feels he did them justice, because I certainly do.
Overall, an easy recommend to any fans of his previous books, especially Coffin Moon, but also a great gateway into Rosson's work. This is a standalone; despite a few little references to his other novels, you don't need to have read them to get the most out of this. This year in horror is beginning to heat up, and there's some stiff competition out there, but I expect this to be high on my year-end list. This could be recency bias, but it might be my new favourite of Keith Rosson's as well.
The main characters here are Eli Lamp, an ex-cop broken and bowed by the kidnapping and disappearance of his daughter Hannah thirteen years previously, and Avery Bryant, Hannah's best friend and the last known person to see her alive. Avery has turned to drugs to try and process that night, while Eli has kicked the habit only to find himself indebted to a local drug gang leader. The lack of closure and sense of emptiness hangs heavily over both of their lives. When the head of the Crooked Wheel's son is found brutally murdered, Eli receives a new order – find the killer, and he's free of the hold the gang have over him. The hunt threatens to bring converging paths of the town's residents together, perhaps violently, while an unseen threat looms in the woods nearby, with nobody knowing who – or what – it is.
Crone has a similar vibe to Coffin Moon, with gangs, intertwining personal relationships, and small-town brutality that wouldn't feel out of place in an S.A. Cosby story. Where that added vampires to the mix, and the Fever House books had his take on zombies, for this book Rosson has given us his take on witches. Don't think of cosy horror or Hocus Pocus, though. The creature here is something more primal, much darker, but with layers that may catch readers by surprise.
This is a heavy emotional read at times; I found myself getting invested in characters – many of whom won't make it to the final chapters – and the bleakness of Hannah's disappearance and its all-encompassing influence on Eli often became upsetting to read. I wasn't completely surprised to see it was influenced by real events in Rosson's life, and I hope he feels he did them justice, because I certainly do.
Overall, an easy recommend to any fans of his previous books, especially Coffin Moon, but also a great gateway into Rosson's work. This is a standalone; despite a few little references to his other novels, you don't need to have read them to get the most out of this. This year in horror is beginning to heat up, and there's some stiff competition out there, but I expect this to be high on my year-end list. This could be recency bias, but it might be my new favourite of Keith Rosson's as well.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Following his daughter’s disappearance, Eli Lamp made some ruinous decisions and found himself indebted to the Crooked Wheel, a local drug gang. When the son of the Crooked Wheel’s president winds up murdered, Eli is forced to turn back to his old profession of detective in order to try to solve the crime and free himself from the gang’s debt. But it can’t be that simple, especially when this current tragedy starts dragging up memories of Hannah’s disappearance.
Crone is my 5th book by Rosson and one of my most highly anticipated read of the year. To say I was thrilled to receive an arc would be an understatement. While I wish it had worked for me in the same way as his other books have, I still enjoyed a ton of what this one was doing.
Rosson’s incredible character work is on full display in Crone. He never shies away from giving his characters a list of flaws a mile long, and yet is able to make the reader actually care about what happens to them in the end. Eli Lamp, the former detective, recovered addict, current enforcer for a motorcycle club, is tormented and tortured in a way that I could only trust Rosson to make work. I would read a short story collection based around every member of the Crooked Wheel (especially if a particular Coffin Moon reference wanted to make another appearance).
The writing is, as always with a Rosson book, stellar. The atmosphere is gritty and dark in a way that I’ve come to expect from his books. The book opens during a storm on a long stretch of highway, and boy, do you feel the ominous weight of what’s going to happen right from the jump.
Frankly the first chapter of the book overall? 10 out of 10, and I wish that was how I felt for the rest of it. With the title of the book being Crone, I had really expected spending more time exploring that figure. A Keith Rosson book about a witch? Hell yeah. Instead, this one felt more like a mystery thriller than anything else, and, unfortunately, that’s where the story started to lose me. There were more guns than supernatural/horror elements by the end, which just wasn’t what I personally wanted from this one.
This is still a solid book, with incredible characters and some of the best writing on the market. I just wish the story itself had worked more for me. If you’re a fan of Rosson or enjoy gritty mysteries with a little revenge sprinkled on top, then absolutely give this one a go. Rosson remains one of my must-read authors, and I can’t wait for his next one to come out. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the eArc of this one!
Crone is my 5th book by Rosson and one of my most highly anticipated read of the year. To say I was thrilled to receive an arc would be an understatement. While I wish it had worked for me in the same way as his other books have, I still enjoyed a ton of what this one was doing.
Rosson’s incredible character work is on full display in Crone. He never shies away from giving his characters a list of flaws a mile long, and yet is able to make the reader actually care about what happens to them in the end. Eli Lamp, the former detective, recovered addict, current enforcer for a motorcycle club, is tormented and tortured in a way that I could only trust Rosson to make work. I would read a short story collection based around every member of the Crooked Wheel (especially if a particular Coffin Moon reference wanted to make another appearance).
The writing is, as always with a Rosson book, stellar. The atmosphere is gritty and dark in a way that I’ve come to expect from his books. The book opens during a storm on a long stretch of highway, and boy, do you feel the ominous weight of what’s going to happen right from the jump.
Frankly the first chapter of the book overall? 10 out of 10, and I wish that was how I felt for the rest of it. With the title of the book being Crone, I had really expected spending more time exploring that figure. A Keith Rosson book about a witch? Hell yeah. Instead, this one felt more like a mystery thriller than anything else, and, unfortunately, that’s where the story started to lose me. There were more guns than supernatural/horror elements by the end, which just wasn’t what I personally wanted from this one.
This is still a solid book, with incredible characters and some of the best writing on the market. I just wish the story itself had worked more for me. If you’re a fan of Rosson or enjoy gritty mysteries with a little revenge sprinkled on top, then absolutely give this one a go. Rosson remains one of my must-read authors, and I can’t wait for his next one to come out. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the eArc of this one!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The residents of Salt Point are poisoned (at least the ones Crone follows). Some by choice, some by circumstance. Throughout the novel, Keith Rosson sucks the poison from these characters with both a vicious brutality and a gentle melancholy. Just like with his previous work, by the end you're left feeling utterly spent. And while the final pages of Coffin Moon have stuck with me in a way very few other books ever could, I think that Rosson has topped it with Crone in nearly every way.
Much of the story is focused on Eli Lamp, an ex-detective and former drug addict. Eli’s daughter, Hannah, went missing 13 years before the story begins, deepening his spiral and kicking off a chain of events that culminated in his indentured servitude to Trying Dave Novak, the head of the Broken Wheel biker gang (marking the gang’s return after their very ill-fated appearance in Coffin Moon). Now, Eli spends his days growing the hazeweed the Wheel use to make Wire (a drug so viciously detailed that I had to look it up, convinced it must be real) and making Dave’s payoffs to the local sheriff. When he can, he still looks for Hannah, turning over the same rocks he has for 13 years.
Then, Trying Dave’s son turns up brutally murdered, a grisly totem is discovered on the beach by a local medium, and Hannah’s childhood friend Avery returns to Salt Point (herself now a Wire addict), pulled back by a recurring dream about Hannah. These pieces set up a propulsive narrative that burns through the book’s 350 pages.
Rossen has a gift for leaving your jaw on the floor. Acts of shocking violence explode in the middle of paragraphs when you least expect it, leaving you reeling and often left holding the pieces of what you thought the narrative was going to be.
The book brings everything together into the type of satisfying conclusion few horror novels are able to capture, explaining just enough that your questions are answered, while preserving the mystery and atmosphere. I’ve always felt that if you turn the lights on too brightly, the scares go away. Rosson leaves the dimmer switch set nearer the top than the bottom, but never allows the shadows to be entirely swept away.
Crone is an exciting, terrifying meditation on the choices that make us, on grief, and on catharsis. It effortlessly blends crime fiction, psychological horror, creature feature, and a touch of grindhouse sensibility into the kind of memorable top-shelf read I’ve come to expect from Rosson.
Thanks to Random House for the review copy.
Much of the story is focused on Eli Lamp, an ex-detective and former drug addict. Eli’s daughter, Hannah, went missing 13 years before the story begins, deepening his spiral and kicking off a chain of events that culminated in his indentured servitude to Trying Dave Novak, the head of the Broken Wheel biker gang (marking the gang’s return after their very ill-fated appearance in Coffin Moon). Now, Eli spends his days growing the hazeweed the Wheel use to make Wire (a drug so viciously detailed that I had to look it up, convinced it must be real) and making Dave’s payoffs to the local sheriff. When he can, he still looks for Hannah, turning over the same rocks he has for 13 years.
Then, Trying Dave’s son turns up brutally murdered, a grisly totem is discovered on the beach by a local medium, and Hannah’s childhood friend Avery returns to Salt Point (herself now a Wire addict), pulled back by a recurring dream about Hannah. These pieces set up a propulsive narrative that burns through the book’s 350 pages.
Rossen has a gift for leaving your jaw on the floor. Acts of shocking violence explode in the middle of paragraphs when you least expect it, leaving you reeling and often left holding the pieces of what you thought the narrative was going to be.
The book brings everything together into the type of satisfying conclusion few horror novels are able to capture, explaining just enough that your questions are answered, while preserving the mystery and atmosphere. I’ve always felt that if you turn the lights on too brightly, the scares go away. Rosson leaves the dimmer switch set nearer the top than the bottom, but never allows the shadows to be entirely swept away.
Crone is an exciting, terrifying meditation on the choices that make us, on grief, and on catharsis. It effortlessly blends crime fiction, psychological horror, creature feature, and a touch of grindhouse sensibility into the kind of memorable top-shelf read I’ve come to expect from Rosson.
Thanks to Random House for the review copy.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
WOWZA!!!! Crone is dark, gritty, brutal, horrific, addictive, suspenseful, and hard to put down!!!!!! I mean, seriously, Crone was off the hook fantastic! Once I began reading, I was instantly hooked. Whew! This book put me through the ringer, and I loved every single second of it! Seriously, this book had a little bit of everything and then some.
Hannah was 15 years old when she went missing. Her father, Eli, is a drug addicted broken man who went on a mission of vengeance looking for her. Avery, her best friend at the time, has not been the same since the night Hannah went missing. She is also a broken person in this book. Both are left reeling when Hannah goes missing. Take the two and throw in a supernatural element, a local drug gang, and a witch! Woohoo!
I absolutely loved this book. The writing is fabulous and I loved the vivid descriptions which, at times, had me wanting to cover my eyes. But I put on my big girl panties and soldiered through! This book is not for the faint of heart! It's raw, gritty, dark, twisted, and has many messed up characters. There are shocking and chilling scenes. There are scenes that evoke emotion and scenes which had my heart racing.
This book is dripping with dread, danger, tension, and horrific happenings. It also has moments which were achingly heartfelt and had me feeling for the characters. You may find yourself wondering who is more horrific in this book, the supernatural element or the humans.
This book touches on many things including grief, loss, anger, vengeance, redemption, and addiction. This book has horror and heart. I loved it.
All the stars and then some! I highly recommend Crone.
*Witches Words buddy read with Mary Beth. Please read her review as well to get her thoughts on Crone.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Hannah was 15 years old when she went missing. Her father, Eli, is a drug addicted broken man who went on a mission of vengeance looking for her. Avery, her best friend at the time, has not been the same since the night Hannah went missing. She is also a broken person in this book. Both are left reeling when Hannah goes missing. Take the two and throw in a supernatural element, a local drug gang, and a witch! Woohoo!
I absolutely loved this book. The writing is fabulous and I loved the vivid descriptions which, at times, had me wanting to cover my eyes. But I put on my big girl panties and soldiered through! This book is not for the faint of heart! It's raw, gritty, dark, twisted, and has many messed up characters. There are shocking and chilling scenes. There are scenes that evoke emotion and scenes which had my heart racing.
This book is dripping with dread, danger, tension, and horrific happenings. It also has moments which were achingly heartfelt and had me feeling for the characters. You may find yourself wondering who is more horrific in this book, the supernatural element or the humans.
This book touches on many things including grief, loss, anger, vengeance, redemption, and addiction. This book has horror and heart. I loved it.
All the stars and then some! I highly recommend Crone.
*Witches Words buddy read with Mary Beth. Please read her review as well to get her thoughts on Crone.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy for review.
Eli Lamp is a former detective whose teenage daughter, Hannah, got into a van ten years ago and was never seen again. Even before Hannah disappeared, Eli’s life was already coming apart: his career as a detective was over, and his drug addiction had taken almost everything else. After she vanished, he burned through whatever remained of his life trying to find out what happened to her.
In the present, Eli is clean and working as an enforcer for the Crooked Wheel, a local drug gang he owes a debt to for reasons that slowly come into focus. When Anton, the son of the Crooked Wheel’s boss, is found brutally murdered under strange circumstances, Eli is offered a way out: find the killer, and his debt to the gang is cleared.
The investigation resurfaces questions about Hannah’s disappearance and makes Eli think that what happened to Anton is somehow connected to his daughter. As he gets deeper, the case starts to move beyond anything that can be explained by ordinary human violence.
I didn’t know much about Keith Rosson going in, but this book grabbed me from the beginning. I was attached to Eli almost immediately, and then to Avery, and of course to Hannah, whose absence looms over the whole book. I wanted to know what happened to her, but I also wanted to understand how everyone had gotten to this point.
Crone is part crime novel and part supernatural thriller, but ultimately, it’s grief horror. The story is built around the loss they all carry: Eli’s grief over Hannah, Avery’s grief over being the last person to see her, and the damage both of them have done to themselves while trying to live with what happened.
It reminded me a little of S.A. Cosby’s novels and Mare of Easttown in the way Rosson builds a dark and emotionally complicated crime story that pushes toward horror while still feeling grounded in reality. The way this book deals with addiction and how it can take over a life and ravage a small town felt painfully real. The supernatural element feels like an extension of human pain.
This is a difficult book to read—it’s gritty and awful in places, and it made me cry. It’s also an excellent story of redemption. By the end, I wanted to tell everyone I know to read it.
Read more book reviews on my Substack
Follow me @shellywritesstuff
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy for review.
Eli Lamp is a former detective whose teenage daughter, Hannah, got into a van ten years ago and was never seen again. Even before Hannah disappeared, Eli’s life was already coming apart: his career as a detective was over, and his drug addiction had taken almost everything else. After she vanished, he burned through whatever remained of his life trying to find out what happened to her.
In the present, Eli is clean and working as an enforcer for the Crooked Wheel, a local drug gang he owes a debt to for reasons that slowly come into focus. When Anton, the son of the Crooked Wheel’s boss, is found brutally murdered under strange circumstances, Eli is offered a way out: find the killer, and his debt to the gang is cleared.
The investigation resurfaces questions about Hannah’s disappearance and makes Eli think that what happened to Anton is somehow connected to his daughter. As he gets deeper, the case starts to move beyond anything that can be explained by ordinary human violence.
I didn’t know much about Keith Rosson going in, but this book grabbed me from the beginning. I was attached to Eli almost immediately, and then to Avery, and of course to Hannah, whose absence looms over the whole book. I wanted to know what happened to her, but I also wanted to understand how everyone had gotten to this point.
Crone is part crime novel and part supernatural thriller, but ultimately, it’s grief horror. The story is built around the loss they all carry: Eli’s grief over Hannah, Avery’s grief over being the last person to see her, and the damage both of them have done to themselves while trying to live with what happened.
It reminded me a little of S.A. Cosby’s novels and Mare of Easttown in the way Rosson builds a dark and emotionally complicated crime story that pushes toward horror while still feeling grounded in reality. The way this book deals with addiction and how it can take over a life and ravage a small town felt painfully real. The supernatural element feels like an extension of human pain.
This is a difficult book to read—it’s gritty and awful in places, and it made me cry. It’s also an excellent story of redemption. By the end, I wanted to tell everyone I know to read it.
Read more book reviews on my Substack
Follow me @shellywritesstuff
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.
Crone was more than what I was expecting. I loved this one!
Not only is the plot gritty and emotional, but the atmosphere is descriptive and fantastic. The Oregon coast and surrounding woods are a perfect setting for something that's lurking in the dark.
The book begins with the reader being introduced to Eli Lamp’s only child, Hannah.
She’s walking along Highway 101 one night with her best friend Avery. A blue van pulls over, and Hannah decides to take the ride. This pivotal moment changes everything in Avery’s and Eli’s life forever.
It’s been over ten years now since Hannah went missing and Eli is just trying to survive.
He’s an ex-addict as well as being an ex-detective. The local biker gang in the area, Crooked Wheel owns him and one day, the son of the head boss is killed.
Eli is told to investigate his murder, and from this moment, the power dynamics start to change.
Crone gives us a look into gang violence, drug trafficking and brutality that feels like watching a season of Sons of Anarchy.
This is not a light read, and you should be prepared for darkness and evil from not only the local gang, but with how it corrupts everything it touches.
The characterization is amazing in this book, and I hated so many people!
I love it when the supernatural horror finally shows up in this book!
The brutality and corruption in this will have you cheering for the cunning figure that’s causing death and destruction.
It’s about halfway into the book when everything changes and the tension is fantastic. I could not put this book down and it’s so satisfying when the gore and terror begin.
Along with some shocking moments in the book, this is about redemption, revenge and how grief can destroy a person.
The ending lands beautifully, and it couldn’t have been better in my opinion.
I’m excited to see what Keith Rosson writes next.
He tends to write horror with a crime setting that just works for me. It’s bleak, ruthless and makes you feel invested in the plot and characters!
Crone was more than what I was expecting. I loved this one!
Not only is the plot gritty and emotional, but the atmosphere is descriptive and fantastic. The Oregon coast and surrounding woods are a perfect setting for something that's lurking in the dark.
The book begins with the reader being introduced to Eli Lamp’s only child, Hannah.
She’s walking along Highway 101 one night with her best friend Avery. A blue van pulls over, and Hannah decides to take the ride. This pivotal moment changes everything in Avery’s and Eli’s life forever.
It’s been over ten years now since Hannah went missing and Eli is just trying to survive.
He’s an ex-addict as well as being an ex-detective. The local biker gang in the area, Crooked Wheel owns him and one day, the son of the head boss is killed.
Eli is told to investigate his murder, and from this moment, the power dynamics start to change.
Crone gives us a look into gang violence, drug trafficking and brutality that feels like watching a season of Sons of Anarchy.
This is not a light read, and you should be prepared for darkness and evil from not only the local gang, but with how it corrupts everything it touches.
The characterization is amazing in this book, and I hated so many people!
I love it when the supernatural horror finally shows up in this book!
The brutality and corruption in this will have you cheering for the cunning figure that’s causing death and destruction.
It’s about halfway into the book when everything changes and the tension is fantastic. I could not put this book down and it’s so satisfying when the gore and terror begin.
Along with some shocking moments in the book, this is about redemption, revenge and how grief can destroy a person.
The ending lands beautifully, and it couldn’t have been better in my opinion.
I’m excited to see what Keith Rosson writes next.
He tends to write horror with a crime setting that just works for me. It’s bleak, ruthless and makes you feel invested in the plot and characters!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thank you to the publisher, Random House, and Netgalley for this ARC for review.
If you’re a fan of a slow burn read, then Keith Rosson may not be the author for you. His writing is a conflagration. It’s forest fire raging on high winds. It’s breathless, brutal, and breakneck. His newest novel "Crone" is no exception. I couldn’t put it down.
"Crone" begins with the disappearance of Hannah, a teenage girl with severely limited eyesight. Her disappearance unravels the lives of those around her and years later ignites a nightmarish descent into chaos. Years after her disappearance, we follow her father’s desperate search for answers and her best friend’s return to the town that broke her. What follows is an unpredictable blend of crime noir, supernatural tension, and small-town drama.
Rosson’s gritty portrayals of violent crime and drug use are balanced by his ethereal and stunning imagery. His prose is eloquent and demanding. It moves seamlessly from the biker clubhouse to the mossy, old world forests of the PNW. The characters in this novel, both human and supernatural, are powerfully written. They are nuanced, flawed, and utterly relatable. You can’t help but be drawn in by them. And, in some cases, devastated by them as well. It takes an incredibly gifted writer to make a reader feel for characters the way that Rosson does. He’s particularly talented at creating the downtrodden underdog that pulls at the heartstrings. However, unlike many authors, Rosson has no qualms about keeping that character downtrodden. He excels at stories that don’t give everyone a happy ending.
"Crone" doesn’t pull punches. It lands each strike with devastating precision. And, just when you think you have it figured out, it jags to the left and leaves you breathless and stunned. This book revels in its own desperation and brutality.
To say that I am a fan of Keith Rosson is an understatement, I’ve intensely enjoyed every book I’ve read from him. Crone may well hold the title of favorite book of the year for me. You simply can’t go wrong with a Keith Rosson novel.
If you’re a fan of a slow burn read, then Keith Rosson may not be the author for you. His writing is a conflagration. It’s forest fire raging on high winds. It’s breathless, brutal, and breakneck. His newest novel "Crone" is no exception. I couldn’t put it down.
"Crone" begins with the disappearance of Hannah, a teenage girl with severely limited eyesight. Her disappearance unravels the lives of those around her and years later ignites a nightmarish descent into chaos. Years after her disappearance, we follow her father’s desperate search for answers and her best friend’s return to the town that broke her. What follows is an unpredictable blend of crime noir, supernatural tension, and small-town drama.
Rosson’s gritty portrayals of violent crime and drug use are balanced by his ethereal and stunning imagery. His prose is eloquent and demanding. It moves seamlessly from the biker clubhouse to the mossy, old world forests of the PNW. The characters in this novel, both human and supernatural, are powerfully written. They are nuanced, flawed, and utterly relatable. You can’t help but be drawn in by them. And, in some cases, devastated by them as well. It takes an incredibly gifted writer to make a reader feel for characters the way that Rosson does. He’s particularly talented at creating the downtrodden underdog that pulls at the heartstrings. However, unlike many authors, Rosson has no qualms about keeping that character downtrodden. He excels at stories that don’t give everyone a happy ending.
"Crone" doesn’t pull punches. It lands each strike with devastating precision. And, just when you think you have it figured out, it jags to the left and leaves you breathless and stunned. This book revels in its own desperation and brutality.
To say that I am a fan of Keith Rosson is an understatement, I’ve intensely enjoyed every book I’ve read from him. Crone may well hold the title of favorite book of the year for me. You simply can’t go wrong with a Keith Rosson novel.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
One of the advantages of being a professional book person is advanced reader copies (ARCS) of soon-to-be published titles. There are certain authors that I often search for ad nauseum, including John Darnielle and Agustina Bazterrica, and Keith Rosson. I first read his book of short stories, "Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons" years ago, and was blown away by the originality and creativity. Since then, he's published one excellent horror novel after another. This newest title, "Crone," is to be published in September of 2026, and yes, the universe blessed me with an ARC.
Long story short - I loved it. Could not put it down. A week-long compulsion. Rosson stirs together a local crime element, small town living, charged and recognizable familial relationships, teenage friendship, local lore, and creatures (the otherworldly that are perhaps more worldly than even us), with terror, shades of grey, suspense, and sorrow. It's the perfect combination of prose and story; his observations concerning minute details of small and great happenings are skillful, creating a story that grabs you by the many fibers of your being. Distilled down, it's about a raucous teenager, her friend, her parents, drugs, and treading water (treading so much) to stay afloat in a small town where so much is against you. And there's a witch. The Crone. She's scary, she's compassionate, she has fish hooked teeth, she's often covered in blood, and she'll fuck you up. I love her.
Rosson's character creation and the subsequent depictions of the transmundane is an unwonted gift. As of writing this, I closed the cover on my eReader last night and the ghost of an ache in my chest remains palpable. I miss so many of the characters, as so many are both good and bad, ugly and stunning.
In the meantime before the publication of "Crone," I highly recommend "Fever House" and it's sequel, "Devil by Name," and "Coffin Moon."
Long story short - I loved it. Could not put it down. A week-long compulsion. Rosson stirs together a local crime element, small town living, charged and recognizable familial relationships, teenage friendship, local lore, and creatures (the otherworldly that are perhaps more worldly than even us), with terror, shades of grey, suspense, and sorrow. It's the perfect combination of prose and story; his observations concerning minute details of small and great happenings are skillful, creating a story that grabs you by the many fibers of your being. Distilled down, it's about a raucous teenager, her friend, her parents, drugs, and treading water (treading so much) to stay afloat in a small town where so much is against you. And there's a witch. The Crone. She's scary, she's compassionate, she has fish hooked teeth, she's often covered in blood, and she'll fuck you up. I love her.
Rosson's character creation and the subsequent depictions of the transmundane is an unwonted gift. As of writing this, I closed the cover on my eReader last night and the ghost of an ache in my chest remains palpable. I miss so many of the characters, as so many are both good and bad, ugly and stunning.
In the meantime before the publication of "Crone," I highly recommend "Fever House" and it's sequel, "Devil by Name," and "Coffin Moon."
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
For all of the loved ones who never made it home…
Crone by Keith Rosson no-spoiler review.
The story follows Eli whose life has gone in a downward spiral since the loss of his wife. He has recovered from his addiction but is still paying a heavy price from the fallout of it. All he has left is hope and he is clinging to it by his fingernails.
This is such a well crafted supernatural horror story set in small town USA. Biker gangs, crooked cops, unsolved crimes and a fictional drug that is not only rotting its users but has rotted the foundations of the town.
The supernatural elements of this story are delightfully creepy, but there is also a wholesome, refreshingly original angle to it. The true horror is the deceit, selfishness and barbarity of the non-supernatural.
The novel is fast paced, the start will pull at your heart strings and then we get a layered story that will consistently shock as Eli’s past and present collide.
The authors note at the end sent a chill down my spine (don’t peek until after reading the novel) as reality can be even more brutal than a horror book at times.
I have been planning to read a book by Keith ever since both Stephen King and Joe Hill sung his praises last year. I bought my wife Coffin Moon and Fever House for her Kindle and she loved them. Black Crow Books kindly sent me an advance review copy of Crone and I finished reading it at 3am on a Saturday having devoured it in a few marathon readings.
I really enjoyed it, it was dark, creepy, gory and unpredictable. I liked the way he writes, smooth, effortless reading, even with so much going on. As such, I highly recommend this novel if you are a horror/thriller/crime fan and I look forward to reading more of Keith’s stories.
Crone will be published on the 22nd September and Black Crow Books have an exclusive signed, limited edition currently available for preorder.
#keithrosson #crone
Crone by Keith Rosson no-spoiler review.
The story follows Eli whose life has gone in a downward spiral since the loss of his wife. He has recovered from his addiction but is still paying a heavy price from the fallout of it. All he has left is hope and he is clinging to it by his fingernails.
This is such a well crafted supernatural horror story set in small town USA. Biker gangs, crooked cops, unsolved crimes and a fictional drug that is not only rotting its users but has rotted the foundations of the town.
The supernatural elements of this story are delightfully creepy, but there is also a wholesome, refreshingly original angle to it. The true horror is the deceit, selfishness and barbarity of the non-supernatural.
The novel is fast paced, the start will pull at your heart strings and then we get a layered story that will consistently shock as Eli’s past and present collide.
The authors note at the end sent a chill down my spine (don’t peek until after reading the novel) as reality can be even more brutal than a horror book at times.
I have been planning to read a book by Keith ever since both Stephen King and Joe Hill sung his praises last year. I bought my wife Coffin Moon and Fever House for her Kindle and she loved them. Black Crow Books kindly sent me an advance review copy of Crone and I finished reading it at 3am on a Saturday having devoured it in a few marathon readings.
I really enjoyed it, it was dark, creepy, gory and unpredictable. I liked the way he writes, smooth, effortless reading, even with so much going on. As such, I highly recommend this novel if you are a horror/thriller/crime fan and I look forward to reading more of Keith’s stories.
Crone will be published on the 22nd September and Black Crow Books have an exclusive signed, limited edition currently available for preorder.
#keithrosson #crone
July 7, 2026
Crone by Keith Rosson
Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse
Pub Date: 9/22/2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Is dark and cozy horror a genre? Well that’s how I would describe this book. You have the darkness that is prevalent with any horror book but then it twists and turns and leaves you feeling confused, but in a good way.
At the beginning, I was so confused at what I was reading, I thought it was supposed to be horror, but it read more like a police procedural thriller/mystery.
Just when you think this book isn’t what it’s meant to be, BAM, throw in some unaliving, resurrection, blood, guts, and creepy monsters in the woods.
Despite the connotation of the genre, I really enjoyed the cozy elements. (You’ll see what I mean when you read this book!)
I don’t want to give too much away so please read the synopsis:
Eli Lamp is a broken man. An ex-detective, ex-addict, and long-grieving father whose daughter, Hannah, disappeared a decade before, Eli decimated his old life investigating her abduction and is now indebted to the Crooked Wheel, a local drug gang, as an enforcer. He lives in a rundown trailer at the edge of the woods, where he keeps Hannah’s room in pristine condition and tries to make it through one day at a time.
But when the son of the Crooked Wheel’s boss is found viciously murdered in a crime scene that doesn’t seem to add up, Eli receives a new order: Find out who the killer is and your debt to the Crooked Wheel is clear forever. You’re free. This pursuit brings him into the orbit of Avery Bryant, Hannah’s best friend and the last person to see her before she went missing. Soon, Eli and Avery are entwined in a hunt for answers that spans decades, stretches the realm of possibility, and brings churning to the surface a conspiracy linking not only these current tragedies but the buried sorrows of Eli’s past.
And though none of them dare say the word witch, at least not out loud, something lurks in the woods, bent-backed and black-eyed, clawed and vengeful, looming ever closer. . . .
It leaves you guessing until the very end and once you finish you’re still not sure what you just read! Loved it! Would totally recommend!
Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse
Pub Date: 9/22/2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Is dark and cozy horror a genre? Well that’s how I would describe this book. You have the darkness that is prevalent with any horror book but then it twists and turns and leaves you feeling confused, but in a good way.
At the beginning, I was so confused at what I was reading, I thought it was supposed to be horror, but it read more like a police procedural thriller/mystery.
Just when you think this book isn’t what it’s meant to be, BAM, throw in some unaliving, resurrection, blood, guts, and creepy monsters in the woods.
Despite the connotation of the genre, I really enjoyed the cozy elements. (You’ll see what I mean when you read this book!)
I don’t want to give too much away so please read the synopsis:
Eli Lamp is a broken man. An ex-detective, ex-addict, and long-grieving father whose daughter, Hannah, disappeared a decade before, Eli decimated his old life investigating her abduction and is now indebted to the Crooked Wheel, a local drug gang, as an enforcer. He lives in a rundown trailer at the edge of the woods, where he keeps Hannah’s room in pristine condition and tries to make it through one day at a time.
But when the son of the Crooked Wheel’s boss is found viciously murdered in a crime scene that doesn’t seem to add up, Eli receives a new order: Find out who the killer is and your debt to the Crooked Wheel is clear forever. You’re free. This pursuit brings him into the orbit of Avery Bryant, Hannah’s best friend and the last person to see her before she went missing. Soon, Eli and Avery are entwined in a hunt for answers that spans decades, stretches the realm of possibility, and brings churning to the surface a conspiracy linking not only these current tragedies but the buried sorrows of Eli’s past.
And though none of them dare say the word witch, at least not out loud, something lurks in the woods, bent-backed and black-eyed, clawed and vengeful, looming ever closer. . . .
It leaves you guessing until the very end and once you finish you’re still not sure what you just read! Loved it! Would totally recommend!
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